So here is the big question: Why, for crying out loud, is it even being considered to investigate Apple in these cases? As I recall from economics class in school, antitrust legislation was originally introduced to prevent monopolists from abusing their market dominance.

In what market does Apple have a monopoly? Surely not in smartphones, if anyone comes close it would be Nokia. Not in ads either, I would say Google has a lot more market share there. So what is it? All that’s left then is the iPhone OS platform itself, but I don’t think that constitutes a market on its own. If any, Apple might have a monopoly on the MP3 player market, but you don’t hear anyone complaining that an iPod nano doesn’t run Flash.

So, Apple has no monopoly on anything related to the iPhone. And yet, these antitrust investigations (or at least pre-investigations) are apparently already underway. Am I the only one who thinks that’s a teeny bit smelly? Am I the only one that thinks Adobe is behind all this?

Frankly, I think Adobe should tuck its tail between its legs and take a hike. For one, Apple is right, Flash downright sucks, especially on non-Windows platforms. Secondly, when Apple needed Adobe the most in the mid 1990′s, Adobe just dropped Apple like a rock and said: “We’ll be focussing primarily on Windows instead of Mac OS from now on”.

Now, some 15 years later, Apple is in the position to bite back with a vengeance. I can’t really say I blame them. In fact, if Apple manages to kill off Flash altogether, you won’t hear me complaining. Adobe had its chance, they couldn’t come up with a (non-crippled) version of Flash that would decently run on a smartphone, so why should Apple be punished for saying: “Sorry, we don’t want that crap on our platform”?

Oh, one more thing: Isn’t it Adobe that won’t hesitate to tell us all that almost every video on the web requires their Flash platform to play? They’re not in any position to be complaining about monopolies.

Just my two cents.

I knew Google was busy in the Netherlands, they already have Street View for Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Groningen available. And they’re also photographing touristic attractions by bicycle right now. What I didn’t know is that they are actually photographing smaller municipalities. Oosterhout is relatively small, it has just over 50,000 inhabitants.

It’ll probably be a couple of months before the pictures are online, but it’d be nice to be able to see my home with Street View, or show it to others. I may even find myself (or my taxi anyway) in one of those pictures.

Update (November 12, 2009)

Apparently, Google hasn’t really done my home town, just the freeways and a couple of local streets. Either that, or they still have to process the photos. In any case, Breda, the nearest larger city, is now extensively covered in Street View. You can use the link above and zoom out a bit to see what’s covered in my neighborhood (drag out the little orange figure above the zoom bar; covered streets get a blue outline).

Update (March 12, 2010)

Google has been busy again. Pretty much whole of the Netherlands is now covered, including my home town. I can now virtually visit my own home.

So, I started looking for a nice small car. I don’t need something big, so I was mainly interested in a 3-doors hatchback. And not too old. My previous car was almost 20 years old, and it looked and behaved like it.

After looking around here and there, I found a nice, blue Peugeot 306. It’s from July 1997, has a 1.6 liter gasoline engine, and has 163,000 km on the clock. It’s equipped with standard options: power windows, power door locks with IR remote, height-adjustable driver seat and steering column, power steering, stuff like that. No a/c though, but I can live with that. The previous owner did not remove his JVC radio/CD/MP3 player, so that’s a nice extra.

So, enough talk, time for some pictures:

Front

Side

Rear

Well, so far (I’ve only driven some 20 km, not counting the test drive) it drives like a charm! It feels quite fast, it’s very responsive to steering, the engine makes enthusiastic noises, and the interior makes no noises at all, not even on bad roads. I’m happy.

On multiple occasions now ¹, he has said, and I quote: “I want a VOC mentality again.” VOC in this context standing for Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, or Dutch East India Company. By this he means “the will to advance and the will to be the first.” The first in what exactly is not clear to me though.

The VOC, those were the guys that traded for — or simply took, that’s a matter of opinion I guess — spices and other goods in what is now Indonesia. Later they colonized the place. They did not hesitate to use force against the locals if it suited their needs. There are reports of pretty brutal slaughters that took place there.

So that is the mentality that our prime minister so desires? Strange, I was always taught in school that these were activities one should not be proud of. So either Mr. Balkenende must be joking, or he really ought to read his history books again, thoroughly.

Just thought I’d share this with the world. Maybe something for foreign governments to keep in mind the next time they have dealings with him.

1. This page is in Dutch, here’s a translation by Google.

Just think, without the mouse, graphical user interfaces probably never would have come off the ground. And what would the Internet be without e-mail and hyperlinks? In my opinion, this counts as one of the pivotal moments in history that made possible the computer as we know it today.

Well, it’s a nice child. She doesn’t cry very much (yet), she mostly sleeps. And I can’t say I blame her. What would you do? Haven’t held her in my arms, and not planning to either. I like newborns just fine, as long as they’re not mine and I don’t have to hold them.

But leave it to these anti-smoke dickheads to find their next thing to wage war on. Now, they want us smokers to stop smoking on sidewalk cafe’s. People, we’re talking about open air here! Where then do we have to go? Where can we finally smoke our damn cigarettes without you fuckers constantly driving us away? It’s not like we’re criminals or something, though we are more and more being treated as such.

Idiots who decide to go driving while totally drunk, those are criminals. Go bug them. But please, let us in peace. You anti-smoke fetishes now have plenty of room to go where there is not a molecule of smoke in the air. And don’t come complaining to us if the air still smells bad. Instead, take the bicycle instead of your car for a change…

I’ll repeat that again: STOP YOUR FUCKING COMPLAINING!!! Don’t you think you’ve won by now?

Try not to harm yourselves or others with fireworks!